Image: PA Images Image: PA Images THE UK SUPREME Court is set to rule on Gerry Adams’ appeal against historic prison escape convictions.
Adams attempted to escape from the Maze, also known as Long Kesh internment camp, on Christmas Eve 1973 and again in July 1974. The second escape bid in July 1974 was described as an “elaborate scheme” which involved the kidnap of a man who bore a “striking resemblance” to Adams from a bus stop in west Belfast.
At a hearing in November, Adams’ barrister Sean Doran QC said his client’s appeal had been “prompted by the obtaining of materials under the 30-year rule”, under which government papers are made public. Doran continued that there was also a note of a meeting in July 1974 held by then prime minister Howard Wilson, which he said “confirms that the secretary of state himself did not personally consider the appellant’s case”.